Modi Reveals Birthday Of Xi Jinping To Chinese Netizens On Thursday

People of China who depend on official news agencies for news and where internet censorship is tightly implemented, were in for a surprise on Thursday.

Beijing: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday morning posted a message on China’s social media platform Sina Weibo- a Twitter equivalent, wishing Chinese President Xi Jinping on his birthday, it came as a surprise to Chinese netizens.

PM Narendra Modi post, in Mandarin, read, “On the occasion of President Xi Jinping’s birthday, I congratulate him, and wish he lives till one hundred years and has a healthy life.”

PM Modi added, “A few days ago, I met with President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, and we had a fruitful discussion to further promote the development of India-China relations.”

China doesn’t entertain discussions or news about personal lives of Chinese leaders- from their birthdays to their families. The internet is so censored that such messages will only surprise the users. Hardly 750 people liked PM Modi’s tweet and forwarded and commented on by more than 200 of the 1.7 lakh followers he has.

It is said that Xi Jinping is possibly the only person after Mao and Deng Xiaoping who has allowed some elements of a public persona to emerge, unlike his predecessor Hu Jintao. Though certain visits of his within China were allowed to receive coverage, his birthday and other personal details are off limits and sharing such details could land internet users in China in trouble. However, it is Prime Minister Modi who shared it on China’s social media.